Monthly Archives: October 2013

Someday I’ll be successful enough that companies will be flooding my apartment with an embarrassing number of sample products to try but currently I have to buy my own (LIFE IS SO HARD.) I’m not a huge fan of monthly subscription food services simply because I don’t like to think about money regularly coming out of my checking account with actively deciding on each purchase. But NatureBox got me – I tried the first month of nutritionist-approved snacks (5 healthy sized bags for $10) and now I am hooked.

For the first delivery 5 bags of pre-selected snacks arrived and then for future months you can go on the website and choose which bags you’d like to receive. The sampler I received had Pistachio Power Clusters, Masa Crisps, Cherry Berry Bonanza, Vanilla Macaroon Granola, and Roasted Kettle Kernels. Each snack is made with mostly whole ingredients with little to no processing (and if there IS processing it’s something completely necessary that won’t clog your arteries and poison your body), there is no high fructose corn syrup, and they offer non-GMO options.

Give ’em a try! If you’re a snacker and usually reach for Wavy Lays and French onion dip (not that I know anything about that) it’s a lovely alternative.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

We all have spices in our cupboards that we never use. I personally have a shaker of garam masala that I used once two years ago and haven’t touched since. Well… there was one time I mistook it for nutmeg. Needless to say those pancakes ended up in the trash.

You probably use your pumpkin pie spice once a year at Thanksgiving, but during this pumpkin-y time of year why not pull it out for some unorthodox uses? Not that the below are TOO out of the box, but perhaps they’re new and exciting to you. I do hope that’s the case.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Watch the mixture closely as the color turns from white and yellow to a light brown. As soon as the butter is a light brown color, turn off the heat. Mix in the maple syrup and the pumpkin pie spice and stir to combine.

Pour half the mixture over the popcorn and toss to coat. Pour remaining butter mixture over the popcorn and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

On the menu:
Pancakes with apples sauteed with maple syrup and pumpkin pie spiceServes 2

In a small frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add apple slices and stir to coat. Cook apples for approximately 5 minutes or until they soften. Add maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes or until mixture is heated through. Top pancakes with sauteed apples and serve.

I won’t go into detail on this, but have you ever researched what’s inside a chicken nugget? I’ll give you this: it’s not cute. It’s barely even chicken.

But who doesn’t love a nice dunkable, battered chicken strip? It’s American comfort food at its best and it is beyond easy to make. So skip the McDonald’s and try them at home. This particular recipe is SPICY so you can easily cut down on the cayenne to make it family friendly if you like.

In a food processor, blend pecans, bread crumbs, and spices until you have a coarse mixture.

Cut chicken into strips, approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch tall (they don’t have to be perfect but uniform size means uniform cooking). Dredge each piece of chicken in egg mixture and then in pecan spice mixture. Shake off excess and place on baking sheet.

Bake chicken strips for 30 minutes. Flip the pieces and bake for another 5 – 7 minutes or until each piece is cooked through and the breading is crispy. Serve with honey mustard dipping sauce.

*Note: I never, ever have breadcrumbs on hand. There’s something about buying a tub of crumbs of bread that just seems wrong to me. What I did in this instance is toast up a piece of white bread until it was very crispy, tear it up with my hands, and then toss the pieces into the food processor with the pecans and spices. Voila. Bread crumbs.